Dreams of Winter
by wibblywobblywesteros
Summary: Arya returns home to Winterfell and is unhappy to find Podrick Payne there. An unlikely romance. One shot.


From the moment she returned home, Arya hated him. No one from house Payne had any business being at Winterfell. She waited until the celebrations and feasts were over and she had a moment alone with Sansa to tell her that Lady Brienne's squire needed leave. Only Sansa didn't agree with her and in the end Jon took Sansa's side. Podrick had helped to rescue Sansa from Ramsay Bolton, as such, he had every right to stay.

After that, Arya simply tried to avoid the Podrick. She knew that he had no part in what Ser Illyn had done to her father and she knew that Podrick had as much choice in the house he was born to as she did, but it hurt to see him. It hurt to be reminded. So she did the only thing she could. If she saw him in a corridor she went another way. If he sat too near her during a meal she would move to another seat. No one seemed to notice the lengths she went to in order to avoid him. No one except for Podrick himself.

He never said anything to let Arya know that he'd noticed but after a fortnight of her avoiding behavior he started helping her by making himself scarce. If he saw her approaching he got out of her way. He waited for her to be seated at meals before finding his own seat out of her line of sight. Twice in one week he left the practice yard when she went out there to sparr.

One evening after dinner Arya went into Jon's solar and found Podrick there speaking with Jon. Sansa wasn't there. Brienne wasn't there. It was just the three of them, Jon, Podrick, and her. She could see that Pod was uncomfortable and would have left if he hadn't been invited there by the King himself.

"I just realized, I forgot…" Arya tried to make an excuse and back out of the room.

"Arya, wait…" Jon called after her and she stayed put. "I have a request for you."

"A request?"

"It's not going to be easy but it's very important." Jon said. "I need to send someone South to convince the new Queen that the White Walkers are real and that we need her aid. The obvious choice for that job is you and Podrick."

Arya was confused. "Why us?"

"Because Podrick served Tyrion Lannister and Tyrion is Hand of the Queen. And you...well from what I have heard, Daenerys Targaryen will be more inclined to respect a woman carrying a sword than a man with a title," Jon explained.

"I can't imagine she likes Starks very much, given what happened to Rhaegar at the hands of our father's dear friend Robert." Arya pointed out.

"No, but her letters say she bears House Stark no ill will." Jon said. "It will be dangerous to risk angering her and if I could think of a better way to convince her I would do that instead...but the whole realm is at risk if we do nothing...will you do it?"

"Of course, I'll do whatever you need me to do," She said.

The following morning the two set out on their journey. Jon had offered to send a larger party. Arya declined saying they could travel faster and be done with it sooner if they went alone and in the end he relented. A few hours passed as they rode in complete silence before Pod finally spoke.

"Are you ever going to speak to me or we going to continue like this all the way to Kingslanding?"

"Not all the way," Arya said, "Sometimes I'll be forced to tell you to shut up."

After that Podrick went quiet and Arya felt a little guilty for treating him so harshly. She knew he didn't deserve it. He had done nothing wrong and had even helped Sansa. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't make herself apologize.

For two days Arya managed to not speak to him. They rode through snow drifts and over ice covered roads for hours on end. It was an utterly boring way to travel and a conversation might have helped pass the time but Arya was stubborn and she had decided before she left Winterfell that she wasn't going to speak to him if she could help it so now she had to keep the promise she had made to herself.

In some places the recent snowfall had been so deep that it wasn't clear where the king's road actually was. Arya discovered late one morning, quite accidentally, that she had apparently left the road because her horse fell from beneath her. Arya fell as well down into the snow and further down into the depths of icy water. They had been crossing a pond and not even known it. The water was so frigid and unexpected that she began to breathe it in without even thinking about it. Her lungs were burning. She couldn't find the surface. She was sure she would die and her last thoughts before passing out were that she had failed Jon.

Arya awoke lying on the ground next to a fire. She was wrapped in a blanket and covered in furs. Her clothes were hanging in a tree nearby. Podrick was ten feet away, his back to her as he tended his horse. He turned and found her awake, opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again.

"What happened?" Arya asked him, all her determination to avoid speaking to him was gone.

"You and your horse went through the ice. I went in after you." He said.

"You went in after me?" Arya asked, concerned. He had risked his life to save her.

"I did, my lady. Your horse never resurfaced."

"But you're not even wet." Arya was still confused on how all this must have transpired.

"Neither are you anymore. It happened yesterday," Podrick explained. "You might have some pain from when I got the water out of your lungs. I'm sorry about that."

"No, don't be sorry. You saved my life. I'm the one who should be sorry. Will you forgive me?"

He nodded.

"Did we lose half of our supplies?" Arya asked him later after she had dressed and eaten. "My horse was carrying a lot."

"We did. We lost your blanket and some of the food rations. We have enough for now though."

"If we lost my blanket, and I was wrapped in your blanket, how did you sleep last night?"

"I didn't sleep," He said. "I was too cold and too worried you would die if I fell asleep."

Arya was touched. She had been wrong about him. Very wrong. She had to make it up to him somehow. "It's almost nightfall. You should take the blanket and furs and sleep. I'll stay awake a while."

He nodded, too tired to argue and fell asleep very quickly after that. Arya stayed awake for a long while tending the fire. Hours later she fell asleep sitting at the fireside. When she awoke in the morning, one of the furs was wrapped around her shoulders.

That day they had little choice but to share a horse. Arya had never been so close to a man in all her life and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Truthfully, Arya was sure how she felt about it, she just wasn't ready to ever admit it out loud. She liked being near Podrick. Somehow it felt really nice. All those weeks of trying to avoid him and now this?

The pair of them did talk that day to pass the time. They eached shared much of their history from recent years and they talked about weapons and swordsmanship.

By evening when the sun had gone down the weather had grown colder. They made a fire and ate a meal. "You should have the furs. I'll take the blanket." Pod suggested, offering the warmer option to Arya.

"It would be simpler if we just shared."

"I suppose it would," Pod said but he didn't sound committed to the idea.

"You suppose?"

"Well it would be warmer, but it might also be...awkward." He tried to explain.

"And it isn't already awkward sharing a horse all day?"

"Sometimes...but mostly it's just...nice." Podrick said. "I don't mind sharing the blankets just don't be surprised if we wake up...awkwardly…" He said a little uncomfortably.

Arya confused for a moment. "Oh!" She said, his meaning dawning on her. He was saying that he wanted her as a man wants a woman and he wouldn't be able to hide it such proximity. "It's alright," She finally said. "I just want to be warm."

It was a little warmer sharing the blankets and the furs than the previous two nights had been. They lay side by side. When the wind blew Arya could feel a gust of cold air. She felt as if she were chilled down to her bones. She was a Stark of Winterfell. This cold shouldn't bother her. Podrick was shivering as much as she was.

"Do you mind if I come closer?" She asked, teeth chattering.

He didn't answer but she felt him turn onto his side and next thing she knew his arms were around her and he had pulled her close enough that her body was pressed flush against his. The combination of warmth and intimacy made her gasp at the sensation.

"Are you alright?" Pod asked her.

"I'm fine," Arya said in a whisper because she couldn't find her voice. She couldn't find her voice because for the first time in her life she was wondering what it might feel like to be kissed. He was nearly asleep. Arya tried to force herself to not think about any of that and really didn't succeed. Eventually she did fall asleep.

In the morning his warning came true. Arya woke and felt his hardness pressed against her. The sensation filled her with a rush of desires and feelings she didn't even know she possessed. Arya looked up and found Pod was awake and watching her intently. He immediately looked apologetic and opened his mouth as if to say something. She put a finger on his lips to silence him.

"Don't say anything. Just… kiss me?" She said.

He didn't hesitate. He kissed her lips and he kissed her neck and he kissed her neck and he kissed every inch of skin that he could reach. When he was done with her and they lay unclothed under the furs and blankets she asked him the one question that had been on her mind ever since he had saved her from the ice.

"There's something I have to know, Pod. When I first returned to Winterfell and I was trying so hard to avoid you, why did you help me to do that?"

"I knew why you avoided me, on account of Illyn Payne being the royal executioner… the truth is, I loved you from the moment you came back to Winterfell. I didn't want to see you hurt and if avoiding me made your life easier then I was willing to help."

Arya found that there were tears in her eyes at his words. She didn't know if she loved Podrick but she knew that it meant a great deal to her that he would say such a thing and she had no doubt that given time she could love him too.


End file.
